7 Foods That Should Never Go In the Garbage Disposal

If you have a garbage disposal, you know how easy they can make kitchen cleanup. Instead of using a stopper to collect food particles and then trying not to gag when you pick it up to dump the food in the trash, food particles can just be ground in the disposal. Garbage disposals are a huge help when it comes to cleaning the kitchen. And I’m a fan of using every single kitchen cleaning tip possible! However, there are at least 7 foods that should never go in the garbage disposal.

7 Foods That Should Never Go In the Garbage Disposal

1. Fat or Grease

Fat and grease should never be put down the garbage disposal. Actually it shouldn’t be poured down any drainpipe. When melted fat or grease is poured down a drain, it eventually cools. And I’m sure you know what that means…it hardens…inside the drain!

Unless you want grease to fill up and eventually clog your drain, it’s best to pour that liquid in an old jar or can and let it cool before tossing it in the trash.

2. Bones or Large Pits

I can’t imagine anyone putting bones in the garbage disposal but apparently it happens. The same is true for large seeds or pits…like a peach pit. They’re extremely dense and take too long to grind up. Plus, neither of these are scraps, which is what I tend to think a garbage disposal should be used for.

3. Onion Skins

Onion skins can easily stick to the sides of the disposal and wrap around the shredder ring this causing major problems down the road.

4. Coffee Grounds

Coffee grounds may not necessarily harm the disposal itself, but they apparently accumulate in drains and can cause clogs.

5. Fibrous Fruits and Vegetables

Asparagus, celery, corn husks and the like have long stringy fibers that make up the veggie. When the blade works to chop, it’s likely that the strings won’t be cut and they’ll actually wrap around the disposal.

6. Egg Shells

Not everyone agrees that egg shells shouldn’t go in the garbage disposal. But, there seems to be two arguments for why you should dispose of them another way.

1. Egg shell membranes can stick to the sides of the garbage disposal and wrap around the shredder ring causing damage.

2. Egg shells can’t be eaten by bacteria in a septic tank. So, if you have a septic, cross egg shells of the list to shred!

7. Anything in Large Quantity

Once upon a time I was at a home where we were peeling potatoes by the sink. Not thinking, we just pushed the scraps into the sink and garbage disposal. We turned on the garbage disposal, it bam…it broke. Both sides of the sinks were stopped up and it was a big mess to get everything in working order again. Take it from me…don’t insert large quantities of food into a garbage disposal.

Disposals are great for little scraps of food but I’m pretty sure they shouldn’t be used as a trash can!

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I put coffee grounds down mine because we use a french press so no filter and the grounds are wet and I don’t want that in my regular trash. I have never had a problem. As for you potato skins, I don’t think it was just the large quantity. Potato skins are the only thing that kills my disposal every.single.time. May I also add meat larger than small bite size and only a few at that.

I’ll share an example of an ultimate mess in a garbage disposal that I was fortunate enough not to have to witness. Once, at hubby’s workplace they had a company BBQ for lunch. This one guy (one of the managers) decided to get rid of all the meat fat that had been trimmed from steaks by putting in down the disposal in the lunch room. Hubby says it was one of the worst smells ever because of course it backed up and took a while for a repair man to come so the meat scraps began to decay. Yeah, nasty. A garbage disposal isn’t a catch all, solve all.

I’d add here’s why you shouldn’t put a couple of these things down the disposal!: They make good compost! Eggshells and coffee grounds enrich the soil and give back to Mother Earth. I love to compost as it’s one less way to waste. 🙂

I need to share this with my roommate. She uses the garbage disposal for everything. A while back, our garbage disposal broke because of this, and it was terrible. Everything backed up and smelled vile. I usually try to compost what I can, and just throw away most of the rest. That way, when I do use the garbage disposal, it works really well without issues.

Thank you all for the post! I knew never to put meat, bones, and grease. But I always thought that egg shells and coffee grounds were good for them. I don’t really like them , I think they are truthfully a waste of money. My apt. Has it and nothing worse than having all the pipe lines connected together. What’s even worse is living on the first floor and having your toilet back up because the people upstairs put grease or female pads down the toilet. It all backs up on the people on the first floor just like the kitchen pipes! Thanks

Many years ago I had this prolific garden. It kept me busy freezing stuff. One day I was peeling, slicing and freezing a large harvest of carrots. (Blanched for a couple of minutes first.) I didn’t think I was putting too many peelings down the disposal, but that’s exactly what happened. Well, fast forward to the bottom line: The plumber came to the rescue and gave me a tutorial on what not to do in the future. Would you believe I did it again much later on. Never happened a third time, though. I will now also not put coffee grounds in the disposal. Haven’t done it for a long time anyway as I like to work it into the soil of certain potted plants along with ground up egg shells. Two things on the bad list for plumbing to good things for the plants!